Hitting the Right Notes

The Steuterman Family

Musical histories of Memphis frequently mention the role of the German community in establishing concert music in the Mid-South region. Christian Brothers itself is in part a product of the migration south from St. Louis that established the German presence here. Among those musical families are the Steutermans, who left a legacy of sound in Memphis that can still be heard today.

Dr. Frank J. Steuterman Sr., a friend and musical collaborator of W.C. Handy, treated his directorship of the CBHS band as a side gig to his music school on Linden. The band had been in a period of contraction when he arrived, but under Steuterman’s tenure (1923-1931), it morphed from being a cornet-style community band and embraced the emerging jazz sounds of the day.

Steuterman’s male children attended CBHS and had an enduring influence on Memphis’ classical and liturgical music culture. Newspaper accounts testify to numerous performances by Frank and his sons Harry, George, and Adolph (class of 1908), playing an array of instruments and maintaining Memphis’ classical music culture.

His son Harry became the organist for Holy Communion Episcopal Church. Adolph in particular enjoyed a distinguished performance career as a pipe organist both in the States and in Europe, Asia, and Africa. His extensive travels were funded by performances and documented in the local papers. But his most enduring legacy is the Aeolian-Skinner pipe organ that he personally installed in Calvary Episcopal Church downtown in 1935, an instrument still very much in use. Adolph was the first director of the Sewanee Church Music Conference in 1951. Today, the Steuterman-Hardison Festival Concert, supported by a sponsorship from the Hardison and Monypeny families, is held at Calvary annually and features the instrument’s elite performers. Simon Johnson, the organist at St. Paul’s Cathedral in London, gave a masterful recital in 2016.

The Hale Family

After Steuterman’s departure, Captain Charles Harrison (director from 1931-1941), a former Army bandleader and musical instrument salesman, gave the band a military-style orientation and established the group as a fixture in Memphis’ civic life. Harrison’s tenure was followed by that of Brother Raphael, who wrote the school song and chose the school colors of purple and gold. The CBHS band became a mainstay of parades and Cotton Carnival festivities. But while the Steutermans established musical depth and Harrison expanded the band’s reputation and scope, it is Ralph Hale who developed the band into the institution it is today.

During his directorship (1947-1983) Hale, a band director who had been working in Monticello, Arkansas, presided over the band’s move from the East Parkway campus (where the school had been part of the college) to Walnut Grove. Under his leadership, the CBHS band assumed national prestige, playing for Richard Nixon and Spiro Agnew. Under Hale, the band played the prestigious Chicago Midwest Clinic in 1954. Another of Hale’s contributions is the tradition of guest soloists performing with the band, a tradition that began with Mexican virtuoso trumpeter Rafael Mendez in 1954.

The Hale family has gone on to contribute a great deal to Memphis’ musical bounty. His brother Jack was a trombonist with the Memphis Horns, whose credits include work with Rod Stewart, Willie Nelson, Johnny Cash, Al Green, Isaac Hayes, and Elvis Presley, while his son Jack Jr. (class of 1973) is a successful Nashville record producer and horn player and has worked with Johnny Cash, John Mayer, Etta James, and others.

Bill Justis

Bill Justis graduated from CBHS in the class of 1946. That placed him perfectly to be part of the rise of Sam Phillips’ Sun Records. According to Peter Guralnick’s recent Phillips biography (Sam Phillips: The Man Who Invented Rock ’n’Roll), Justis was a reformed country club sort, a saxophonist who overcame an aversion to rock-and-roll and made history.

“Raunchy” was a late-night afterthought from a 1957 session that had gone to the bottle. Justis, a renowned band leader, had worked up the number with guitarist Sid Manker and Roland Janes.

According to Bob Spitz’s long-form history, The Beatles: The Biography, Paul McCartney was obsessed with “Raunchy” and, in another interview, described George Harrison’s entry into the Beatles as “passing the audition” for Lennon by playing the song. A video from 1994 shows McCartney, Harrison, and Ringo Starr jamming on “Raunchy.”

Justis’ advice led Charlie Rich to the country-soul style that would define his career. Justis and Jerry Reed are credited for the original motion picture soundtrack to Smokey and the Bandit (1977). Justis went on to a successful arranging and production career in Nashville until his death in 1982.

Jesse Winchester

Jesse Winchester’s name is well known to Memphian baby-boomers, both personally and professionally. Nationally, he’s remembered as an insightful and soulful songwriter whose work was recorded by the Everly Brothers, Joan Baez, Jimmy Buffett, and Elvis Costello, to name but a few.

Winchester was a percussionist in the CBHS band and a member of the class of 1962. In addition to his musical school work, he was involved in Memphis’ well-documented garage-rock culture. He called his band the Church Keys and deemed them “as insignificant as we could possibly be.” That description would not apply over his course of a complicated musical career.

During the Vietnam War era, Winchester emigrated to Toronto, where he fell in with members of The Band. His eponymous debut album from 1970 was produced by The Band’s lead guitarist and songwriter, Robbie Robertson, and features the playing of drummer Levon Helm. He and his music rightly accrued cult status, and his songs were often recorded by other folk and rock artists of the period.

Winchester was granted draft amnesty in 1977 and performed regularly thereafter, recording more than a dozen other albums, many highly regarded by critics. If you don’t know his work, you’re missing out. His last album, A Reasonable Amount of Trouble, was released shortly after his death in 2014 and bears testament to his signature depth as a songwriter.

The next Steuterman-Hardison Festival Concert will feature the Boy Choristers from St. Paul’s Cathedral, London, on April 23, 2018, at Calvary Episcopal Church.